Dark (6 page)

He pushed off of the counter and headed for the door, ignoring the
crushed glass underfoot.

****

“Eva! Oh my God, get them off me!” Lucy screamed, falling back
into the car. “What are they?”

What the hell?
Eva dove for her friend, grabbing her around the waist and
yanking her out of the vehicle. Weird, tiny, crystalized creatures swarmed up
her arm, and she brushed them off frantically, but there were too many. Blood
welled up as their sharp edges sliced right through the fabric of her shirt and
she bit back a scream.
Two of us freaking out
isn’t
going to help,
she thought, even as her inner psyche ran around in circles
in her brain, shrieking hysterically. She brushed away some more, then crushed
a few of the… the
things
underfoot, all the while thinking,
Oh my
freaking God, what the hell is happening?

“Eva, there are more coming!” Lucy grabbed her arm, pulling a gasp
from her when her friend’s fingers hit the cuts. It didn’t hurt that bad, but
she was
bleeding
for God’s sake. And there
were
more of them.

Shit, shit, shit,
she thought as the things scrambled toward their legs. Lucy
shrieked again and Eva shoved her behind her, ears ringing.

“Stomp your feet! Don’t let them climb,” she yelled, and Lucy
obeyed, thank God. Eva kicked a few viciously, wincing as her ring grew hot
against her chest.
Wait, what? Why is Greyson’s ring heating up?
She
clawed at her blouse because the damn thing
hurt,
and pulled it out on
its chain. It dangled in front of her, red and glowing, and then a sudden burst
of energy rushed out of it, blinding her.

Lucy gasped, hands grabbing Eva’s arms again. The ring flared from
red to white, and then a shimmering field of something dark thrummed around
them. The weird crystal things shattered when it hit them, dissolving them into
sand. The shimmer pulsed again, like a dark colored rainbow or some freaky
sci-fi special effects, and then just as suddenly vanished. Eva stood there,
panting, ring dangling from the chain in her hand.

“What just happened?” Lucy asked, still digging into Eva’s arms.

Eva pried her loose. “I don’t know. Where’s the salesman?” She let
go of the chain. The ring had gone back to being ordinary, inert silver.

“What did you do? I saw the ring and then, bam! Blinding light,”
Lucy chattered, hanging onto Eva’s jeans.

“I don’t know.” She brushed Lucy off. “Where did the sales guy go?”

“There’s another one.” Lucy pointed, hand shaking. “Oh my God, oh
my God, oh my God, we have to get out of here.” She grabbed Eva’s hand and
began dragging her backwards.

“Lucy, stop! Shit, that hurts.” Eva twisted away, trying to dig
out the ring again and failing. Her shirt had morphed into a cloth monster that
ate jewelry.
Dammit!
She popped some buttons, desperate to get the ring
out before it heated up again. It had saved their asses, of that she was
certain, but the part where it burned her skin wasn’t so awesome. Finally, she
grasped the chain and just yanked. It broke and she held the ring out, dangling
it in front of her like a shield as she stared at the weird alien bug thing,
willing it to disappear. It didn’t move. It simply crouched on top of a mound
of sand and clicked its claw things.

“What’s it doing? Eva, God. We have to run.” Lucy tugged at her
harder.

Eva resisted her friend, shuddering as her ring began to glow
again. This time she could feel the energy coursing through her and it felt
strangely familiar.
Comforting.
Arousing.
Dear God, I’m going crazy,
she thought, as the bug-like thing stopped
clicking and crouched, somehow folding its crystal legs beneath itself.

“It’s
gonna
jump,” Lucy warned, voice
going high again.

She’s right,
Eva thought, hand clenched even tighter around the chain. Her fingers ached
from gripping it so hard.

The moment the bug launched itself, the ring flared white-hot. Eva
flinched, but didn’t let go. The dark shimmer flashed between them and the bug
again, but this time the creature didn’t shatter. Instead, it shoved a pointed
claw at the shield and hung there like a bug on a windshield.

“Oh shit,” Lucy breathed, hands tightening on Eva’s waist.

Eva agreed. “Don’t move.”

“I don’t think I
can
move,” Lucy muttered, breathing fast.

Eva licked her lips and tried not to panic. When the bug thing
began to slice through the shield, she moaned under her breath. “Shit, shit…”

“Eva, I don’t want to die,” Lucy whispered.

“Shut up, we’re not going to die,” she said, on the verge of
tears. She gripped the chain, willing the ring to do something. It glowed, but
didn’t flare again. The shield buzzed and Eva’s heart sank.
Dammit, this is not how I want to go!
When a man’s voice came out of nowhere, she almost dropped the ring.

“I would never let you die, Eva.”

Chapter Four

Eva looked up, heart beating so hard she felt faint. “Greyson,”
she breathed, joy and hope rushing through her.

“Don’t move,” he said, inching closer. He had his hands out, as if
he was going to catch a ball.

“Holy shit, it’s the Sentry,” Lucy said, voice shaky.

Eva swallowed, hard. He looked even better than she remembered:
dark hair, dark eyes threaded with silver, strong jaw and stubble. He wore a
tight black t-shirt, black jeans, and black motorcycle boots. He looked like every
woman’s dream bad boy—hot and strong and oh-so-dangerous.

“Don’t move,” he said again, low and rumbly.

Eva held her breath. Something about him made her dizzy. Lucy’s
fingers tightened painfully on her waist.
Or
maybe I’m light-headed because Lucy’s squeezing all the blood out of my body
,
she thought sardonically. She couldn’t move if she wanted to, anyway. The
creature was still trying to drill its way through the shield and she was too
scared to budge. Abruptly, Greyson surged forward and grabbed the thing with
his bare hands. He grimaced as he brought his palms together. A shimmer similar
to the ring-shield flared over his palms as he crushed it, muscles in his arms
bulging.

“Oh my God,” Lucy muttered, clearly freaked out to hell and back.
She let go of Eva and edged backwards.

Eva didn’t feel much better. She let her hand fall and the
ring-shield faded. Her knees wobbled. She grabbed onto the car to stay on her
feet.

“Are you okay?” Greyson asked, striding forward.

She nodded, not trusting herself to speak. He stopped and reached
out, touching a finger to her cheek. She shivered violently.

“You look different,” he murmured.

She fought the urge to grab his hand and hold on forever. “I didn’t
think I’d ever see you again.”

He scowled and stepped back. “You shouldn’t be here.”

Oh my God, is he
serious?
A faint spark
of anger trickled through her. “You said that before.
A lot.
I didn’t listen then and I’m not listening now.”

“Eva, what are you doing? He’s a Sentry,” Lucy muttered, hands
fluttering.

She waved Lucy off, suddenly feeling much less woozy.
Irritation has a way of doing
that,
doesn’t it?
She confronted Greyson, spine
straight. “Are there more of those things? What are they? Should we get out of
here?” she asked him, rapid firing the questions. She’d just moved back to Ohio.
She had no intention of going anywhere and if he didn’t like it, too bad. From
the corner of her eyes she spied a few of the other salesmen and shoppers
watching warily. One or two had their phones out, probably recording the entire
scene.
Why didn’t they call for help?
she
thought angrily.

He glanced around. “I don’t sense any others.” He stared at the
ground just beyond the car and frowned. Eva followed his gaze and went still as
reality slammed into her. The salesman who’d helped her and Lucy lay just
beyond the front fender, bloodied and unmoving.

Greyson strode over and crouched down, putting fingers to the man’s
neck. After a moment he shook his head and stood up.

“Oh God,” Lucy mumbled, voice strained.

“I don’t think I can buy that car now,” Eva muttered, taking a
deep breath.

Greyson walked back. “Give me your hands.”

Eva backed up slowly. “Why?”

He sighed and reached forward, grabbing her by the wrists. His
ring dangled from the chain she’d managed to loop around her wrist, but he
ignored it.

Eva didn’t bother resisting. He was way too strong and besides, he
wouldn’t hurt her. His thumbs rubbed circles on her palms, then his hands
warmed up and the same energy she’d sensed earlier tickled her skin. Her cuts
disappeared. He grunted and let go, stepping back. She remembered how she’d
twisted her ankle all those years ago and suddenly realized what he’d done for
her. “You’re a healer,” she said, shocked all over again.

He frowned at her. “Why are you here, Eva?”

“She needs to buy a car,” Lucy offered when Eva didn’t answer.

He glanced at her friend and nodded. “You won’t be buying one
today.” He tilted his head. “The police are here.”

“Shit, we’re going to be here for hours,” Lucy muttered, then
looked guilty when she caught sight of the salesman’s body.

Damn, she’s right. No car, and that poor man’s dead,
Eva thought, still unsettled by
Greyson’s sudden appearance.
And those things attacking
us.
It’s been a terrible day so far.

“I’ll speak with the police,” Greyson said, surprisingly.

“Not before you tell me what those creatures were.” Eva wasn’t
letting him get away with half-truths anymore. Absently, she stuffed his ring
into her pocket.

He glanced around.

Eva stared at him, knowing instinctively he didn’t want to
explain, not with everyone watching. The other salesmen stared at them avidly
and she knew that the novelty of a Sentry appearing in the middle of their car
lot would soon hit the news. She sighed and tried one last time. “Please.”

He looked at her with a complicated expression on his face,
then
abruptly gave in. “Not here.”

“Eva, maybe I should go,” Lucy said.

“The police will want to talk to you,” Eva said, turning. As if
her words had conjured them up, three troopers walked out of the sales building
and headed directly for them. The oldest, a balding man with silvering temples,
looked grim. The other two were younger and both looked nervous.

“And here we go,” Greyson muttered, sounding irritated.

“Sir, please state your name and your business here,” the oldest
trooper asked. He glanced at Eva and Lucy. “Are the two of you okay?”

Eva blinked. What was happening? “We’re fine, thanks to Greyson.”
She wanted to mention the things that attacked them, but knew Greyson would
likely want to take the lead in that.

The trooper frowned. “Sir, what is your name?”

“I am Sentry Greyson Dark,” he said, voice low and calm.

“Sentry?” the older trooper tipped his head back to look at
Greyson more closely. “You don’t look like a Sentry.”

Greyson smiled minutely. “What does a Sentry look like?”

“Since I’ve only ever seen Sentry Day on television, I wouldn’t
know,” the trooper said, growing more belligerent. His two companions fidgeted
nervously as he spoke, and Eva knew they didn’t like the look of Greyson. He
was
pretty large and he dressed like he was in a motorcycle gang. She stifled a
giggle at the thought.
Greyson?
In a
gang?
Ha.

“I need to know what your business is here with these two young
ladies,” the cop continued.

Holy crap, he thinks Greyson attacked us or something,
Eva thought, half-shocked,
half-amused.

“Officer, you’ve got it all wrong. He’s an old friend of mine,”
she said, moving closer to Greyson.

“Miss, I’m sorry, but I need to see some ID from him.”

Greyson shook his head. “I don’t have any on me.”

“Here,” Lucy suddenly said, thrusting her cell phone under the cop’s
nose. “He really is Sentry Dark. See?”

The cop frowned at her, but then looked down at the photo on the
screen and went pale.
“Um.”

“I am here on a Stronghold matter, officer,” Greyson said. He
touched Eva’s arm lightly, surprising her, then stepped back, opening the way
to the car where those weird things had attacked them. He began walking. Eva
followed, wondering what he was going to say. Lucy caught her eye and the two
exchanged
holy-shit
looks.

Greyson paused for a moment,
then
continued speaking as he walked over to the salesman’s body. “Unfortunately,
our ancient enemy has made its way to Earth.”